Staging the empire: Soviet-Polish initiatives in propaganda, science, and the arts, 1943--1953

The dissertation examines the beginnings of the Soviet-Polish cultural rapprochement during the end of the Second World War and early stages of the Cold War, between 1943 and 1953. It underscores the little-known challenges that the Soviet and Polish communists had to confront as they tried to establish a uniform and convincing vision of the emerging Soviet empire in Eastern Europe. I show that a host of mutual suspicions, prejudices and misunderstandings existed among Soviet and Polish officials, journalists, artists, scientists, students and selected groups of peasants, all of whom were charged with promoting the new empire. The resulting conflicts and doubts among and the relatively few but important groups of propagandists and cultural functionaries impeded the common efforts and contrasted with the vision of unity and friendship that was so central to the official scenario promoted across the new empire.;By drawing on a new body of archival evidence as well as insights from the literatures on modern colonial empires and transnational history I seek to challenge two commonly-held notions about the nature of the Soviet project in the Eastern Bloc. According to one of them, the Soviets manipulated the Polish public sphere only indirectly: by issuing general directives to the Polish communists through the top party channel. While focusing on the Soviet---Polish contact points at the middle level of the empire (encompassing middle strata of government and party organizations, as well as social and cultural institutions), I argue that the Soviet actions were neither as consistent nor as effective as many scholars thought they were. My project not only suggests a relative autonomy of the mid-level initiatives but also makes clearer the character of the alternatives available to the Soviet officials in the Cold War---a conflict that defined the second half of the 20th century.